Vale in Mozambique: Creator and destroyer of jobs, livelihoods and communities

Abstract

Millennial mining projects like Vale's coal mines in Mozambique operate within the logic of the new imperialism, driven not by states and politicians in search of territorial control but by restless corporations in quest of short and long-term profits. The mining discourse cloaks this logic with fulsome promises of jobs and local development and making African commodity suppliers into significant players on global platforms. This case study looks at the efforts of those actually employed by Odebrecht, and later Vale – and their global labour partners - to use the inherited union structures to protect themselves from Vale management's arbitrary power. It then examines the civil society initiatives that emerged in response to livelihoods destroyed by Vale's massive footprint not only in and around the extraction site in Moatize but also along road, rail and sea links to transport Mozambique's coal onto global commodity markets.Both those impacted by Vale through loss of land and livelihoods and those directly employed by Vale had to contend with the overly intimate relationship between Vale and their government. in the, by now, classic neoliberal reversal of roles, The Maputo government over the years virtually abdicated its role in defence of workers, communities and the environment, ceding to Vale the right to govern in Tete. Trade unionists from Brazil and Canada making regular visits to Tete for mining health and safety training seminars found themselves as front-line observers.